The Xperia XZ2 Premium also bumps up the XZ2’s specifications elsewhere, notably with 6GB of RAM.

The camera can also record 960fps slow motion videos at 1080p, while the capability to snap bokeh photos and monochrome shots will be added in the future via software update.

Sony has just unveiled its flagship smartphone for 2018. Dubbed the Xperia XZ2 Premium, it’s a successor to last year’s Xperia XZ Premium and sports all the best bits from Sony’s bin. Sony hasn’t announced the prices yet, but expect the XZ2 Premium to carry a ‘premium’ price tag.

The XZ2 Premium is essentially a more camera-focused version of the standard Xperia XZ2 launched a few months ago. The XZ2 Premium is powered by the same Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 SoC clubbed along with Android Oreo 8.0. However, the XZ2 Premium comes stuffed with 6GB of RAM and an average 64GB of onboard storage, which is expandable up to 400GB via a microSD card slot. Therefore, performance should be identical, if not better than the XZ2.

However, the display has taken a major dose of adrenaline — the XZ2 Premium ditches the slightly modern 18:9 5.7-inch full HD+ HDR display in favour of a rather conventional 5.8-inch 4K HDR panel with Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Then there’s the camera, which now consists of two eyes — a 19MP + 12MP dual camera setup, where the 19MP sensor collects colour data and the secondary sensor captures in monochrome. Sony claims that with the help of the monochrome sensor, the XZ2 Premium can reach high ISO figures of around 51,200 for still images and 12,800 for videos. To keep the noise under control, SONY has equipped the smartphone with its AUBE image signal processor that can combine the data from both the sensors and iron out the noise. The camera can also record 960fps slow-motion videos at 1080p, while the capability to snap bokeh photos and monochrome shots will be added in the future via software update.

The XZ2 Premium also has an improved 13MP selfie shooter. The new model is fuelled by a bigger 3540mAh battery compared to XZ2’s 3180mAh battery. The XZ2 Premium will be available on the shelves this summer and should be priced around $900 -$1000.